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Bill Christine

Bill Christine, whose first Kentucky Derby was in 1968 (like everybody else, he waited several years to find out if the courts would uphold the DQ of Dancer's Image), spent 24 years covering horse racing for the Los Angeles Times. He covered every Triple Crown race for the Times from 1982 through 2005, and also reported on the first 22 runnings of the Breeders' Cup. Recent stories by Bill have appeared in The Blood-Horse, Post Time USA, the California Thoroughbred and Paddock magazine.

Bill has won two Eclipse Awards for turf writing, five Red Smith Awards for best Kentucky Derby stories, two David Woods Awards for best Preakness stories and the National Turf Writers' Association's Walter Haight Award and Pimlico's Old Hilltop Award for career contributions to racing. He was part of the Los Angeles Times team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1995 for its coverage of the Northridge earthquake the year before.

Bill came to the Times from the Thoroughbred Racing Associations, where he was assistant to the executive vice president. Before that, he covered a variety of sports for newspapers in East St. Louis, Baltimore, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Chicago, including a stint as sports editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He wrote Roberto!, a biography of the Hall of Fame baseball player Roberto Clemente, in 1972. His first job in racing was in the front office of the old Commodore Downs track in Erie, Pa.

Bill, who lives in Redondo Beach, California, is working on a history of Bay Meadows. Contact: bill.christine@yahoo.com.

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Saturday, August 07, 2010

A couple of horses in the field were winless in both 2009 and 2010. Twenty-eight losses in all.

Another horse had never finished better than fifth in a stakes race. Yet another horse had been beaten in 19 of 22 starts.

Not a very salty lot, the five mares who lined up against Zenyatta in the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar. By rights, Zenyatta should have been giving them 10 pounds or more, but the Hirsch and its forerunner, the Chula Vista, haven't been a handicap race since 1999. Weight-for-age conditions applied, which made the weights fair for everyone but the horses not named Zenyatta.

When Zenyatta wins, no matter what the weights, no matter how cheesy the opposition, no matter how scant the margin, hyperbole flies, so why should her win by a neck at Del Mar be an exception? When she crossed the finish line for her 18th win without a loss, the estimable Trevor Denman, who has been on the horns for many of of those wins, said: "She doesn't win by far, but it's the way she wins! She gives you goosebumps!"

Mike Smith, who rides Zenyatta, was smitten long ago, and this time he said: "If she can pull two more (wins), to me she might go down as the greatest horse of all-time."

Well, they all have to say something, don't they? A win over chopped liver at Del Mar will not get Zenyatta past Man o' War and Secretariat, but a second win against males in the Breeders' Cup Classic in November will at least rocket her into their league.

Some of the others at Del Mar had passed the entry box because of the rumors that Zenyatta wouldn't run. Her co-owner, Jerry Moss, was the only racing commissioner who didn't approve of synthetic surfaces for California when that 2006 vote came, and John Shirreffs, Moss' trainer, once said that running on ersatz dirt is like traveling over Velcro. Del Mar's Polytrack layout is not unlike the other synthetics in California, fraught with problems, but by race day Moss and Shirreffs had painted themselves into a corner. Del Mar was giving away a set of pint-sized glasses in honor of Zenyatta, and a crowd of 30,000 was expected (actually, 32,000 came). No Zenyatta and racing would have left just one more sour taste in a lot of mouths.

All week long, the main purveyor of the Zenyatta-won't-run rumors was Jerry Jamgotchian, arch-critic of California racing, Del Mar especially included. In what looked like heresy, Jamgotchian laid out about $15,000 to fly his Irish-bred, Rinterval, from Chicago to California to run in the Hirsch. Jamgotchian came about as close as he'll ever come to sheepishness when he said it wasn't the devil, but Rinterval's decent synthetic-track record back East, that made him do it.

By week's end, Jamgotchian backed off his theory that Zenyatta wouldn't run, and kept Rinterval in the race, anyway. That was a good thing. She was the second-place finisher, earning Jamgotchian $60,000. Zenyatta collected $180,000, hiking her career total to $6.2 million. "She was playing," Mike Smith said. "When she gets to the front, she salutes the fans." The two races Smith referred to are the Beldame at Belmont Park (probably) and the Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs (definitely). Zenyatta's chopped-liver days are over.

The Beldame at Big Sandy.... I’ll believe it when I see it. Love Z’s charisma but yesterday proved nothing. Peppers Pride won 18 in a row too. Last years Classic was against turf horses that run better on plastic stuff. So Z has not beaten anyone significant on the real dirt.

Where’s my respect… I was unbeaten too! I beat the boys at the graveyard of champions in the Whitney, the best gals of my generation at Churchill in the Breeders Cup.

Compare me with Z after looking at our lifetime of races and competition and tell me who was better. No respect I tell ya ....No respect!

Mr. Christine, no insult intended, but you’re certainly old enough to recall the good ole days when people shipped their horses across country specifically to take on the champions.

So instead of always seeing articles knocking the fields Zenyatta faces and demanding she ships across country, just once I’d like to read an article questioning why the owners of other “big name” horses don’t ship out west to take on the undefeated mare.

For example, why does Rachel Alexandra get a free pass from the media for not shipping west? Is it because of the pathetic “plastic” excuse her owners uses? Keep in mind Rachel has already raced on “platic” before, so that excuse doesn’t really hold water.

A “second win” in the Classic? How about a third? No, wait, how about a fourth consecutive Breeders Cup Classic win, that will finally do it. Unusually cryptic logic....Zenyatta Derangement Syndrome may be finally playing itself out to its worst proportions in the media. With no one left to hoist above her (nice race Quality Road), expect things to get super nasty and even equally more weird.

Bill Dwyre, a longtime horse racing writer for the LA Times, took aim in his column this weekend at the East Coast turf writers like Bill Christine, who harbor such animosity against Zenyatta. Money quote: “No, she has never lost to another race horse. Her defeat was at the hands of a bunch of sportswriters, many of whom may have had fogged brains from summer humidity in the East.” After reading that, Bill Christine came to mind, especially the part about “fogged brains.”

Funny, how we see no columns from Christine taking Rachel Alexandra’s connections to task for her four races this year—all of them ungraded stakes races, or taking them to task for the fact that her connections ducked a matchup against Zenyatta on the dirt at Oaklawn for the Apple Blossom, when $5 million was on the table. Also, we see know columns from East Coast writers demanding that Rachel Alexandra ship WEST; no, the onus is always on Zenyatta.

Christine also claims that Zenyatta has not been any significant fillies or mares. But instead of relying on East Coast taking points, let’s review who Zenyatta has beaten: Among the fillies and mares: Zenyatta has defeated two Breeders Cup’ Distaff Champions, Ginger Punch and Life is Sweet. She beat Ginger Punch twice, including once on dirt; she beat Life is Sweet three times.

Zenyatta beat Music Note, a five-time Grade 1 winner. She beaten seven other Grade 1 winners: Hystericalady, Santa Teresita, Tough Tizs Sis, Cocoa Beach, Romance is DIane, Carriage Trail, and Sealey Hill. (After Zenyatta defeated her in the 2008 Vanity, Baffert took Tough Tizs Sis to Belmont for the Ruffian Handicap (G1), where she won by 12 and 1/4 lenghts in record time.)

So among fillies and mares, Zenyatta has defeated ten Grade 1 winners, including two Breeders’ Cup Distaff Champions. She also defeated St Trinians, a Grade 2 winner who is better than any female Rachel has ever faced. She also defeated Zardana, who earlier in the year defeated Rachel.

Among the males: in the BC Classic, Zenyatta defeated the 2009 American male older horse champion (Gio Ponti), the 2009 American male 3 year old champion (Summer Bird), the top European horse then in training (Rip Van Winkle), the 2009 Kentucky Derby winner (Mine that Bird), not to mention a 5-time Grade 1 winner (Einstein), and other Grade 1 winners Twice Over, Colonel John, Richard’s Kid, and Awesome Gem.

Rachel has simply not faced as an accomplished array of horses (males or females) as has Zenyatta. And it would be nice if Bill Christine were to do his homework before loading up his next column with more parochial East Coast bias and urban legends about the quality of competition Zenyatta has faced.

I didn’t get the same thrill from watching Zenyatta run yesterday. I thought it was a deceptively good performance; she closed into a very slow pace over a Del Mar track that has been very kind to speed, she lost a ton of ground on the turn and she came home in about 29 seconds for the last two and a half furlongs. But it was a no win situation and for the first time I felt sympathetic towards those who questioned her connections’ choice of race. I also found the hype Del Mar and Denman engaged in ("Undoubtably, the greatest horse in the world.” Arguably, maybe, but not undoubtably. And let’s save the video tributes for retirement.) offputting.
She has two races left. I just hope the penultimate is not the “Zenyatta.” In order of preference, I’d like to see her in the Spinster, Goodwood, or Beldame. The last I don’t particularly like as a prep for a mile and a quarter at Churchill. That’s why I have that last, even if it meant, finally, a showdown with RA.

Mr. Christine,
Congratulations on being the only person on the planet to ever use the words chopped liver and Zenyatta in the same sentence.
Seriously, not only are you mocking HER, you mock, Hall of Famer, Mile Smith, the Mosses, even Jerry Jamgotchian and his lovely horse Rinterval, as well. It is precisley people like you who give all of Zenyatta’s east coast fans a bad name. Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed, this morning? Maybe you are having voter’s remorse for your bad judgement in voting last year. But I do not find your crankiness and nastiness entertaining at all.

For the record, Eclipse voting is not just sportswriters. Far from it. The electorate consists of members of the National Turf Writers Association, racing secretaries, Daily Racing Form personnel and Equibase chart callers.

So if blame is the game, there are enough targets to go around.

Yes, I voted for Rachel Alexandra for Horse of the Year, and would again if somebody offered me a do-over.

Now of course, the body of work of the two horses is an entirely different matter.

..."Yes, I voted for Rachel Alexandra for Horse of the Year, and would again if somebody if offered me a do-over.

Now of course, the body of work of the two horses is entirely different matter.”

Bill, the more I look at the ‘body of work’ the more I think that Zenyatta should have been voted HOY unanimously.

Rachel Alexandra’s body of work basically consisted of three races against males. In the Haskell she beat the winner of just one Grade 1 race. In the Woodword, RA just beat the winners of 3 Grade 1 races, and in the Preakness just 4.

The other races that Rachel Alexandra won in 2009 were over horses that did not win anything to note.

Zenyatta beat horses that won graded stakes leading up to the Classic, and in the Classic beat a field that won 23 Grade 1 races.

I don’t really care about what league Man o’War and Secretariat’s might be in or what some sportswriter thinks it might take to be or not be lumped in with them. All I know is what I’ve got right in front of me, and frankly, as a lifetime racing fan, all I can say is that I’ve never seen anything like her. I’ll leave the parsing and the pointless “rankings” and divvying up into “leagues” to the joyless scribes who are so busy chopping liver to see the amazements going on right under their noses.

The no nothing liberals that voted Rachel over Zenyatta should just resign. They know nothing about horse racing. They are the same bunch that made a horse that lost three times in a year the greatest horse ever because they needed a story. He ran on concrete.
Buddy

Good grief..."what you talkin’ bout Willis?”
Mr. Christine, I can’t believe you actually wrote this nonsensical piece. Worse yet, signed your name to it. The posters have placed their Zenyatta facts on the site. I guess maybe you did not understand fully of what this mare has done in her career and for racing in general. Hopefully you took note of the facts. Maybe you forgot that Zenyatta carried more weight both last year and this year,than any other race horse in this country other than jumpers? Spotted fields 12 or more pounds in some cases. There is no room for error when a horse is carrying that much weight.Coming from behind as she does, creates a mess of problems where weight could be a huge disadvantage. Unless you are a hands on horse person, you would not understand all that is involved when training or owning a race horse.
Even though Rachel is a fine race horse,she never carried more than 121 pounds. When the weight showed a problem this year, they went for a made to order race at Monmouth. Her trainer even mentioned the added weight was affecting her. You seem to be kennel blind as we say in the dog show world when it comes to Rachel.
I watched Zenyatta’s race last night at the Harness Track in Saratoga. Many came upstairs to watch her run. Imagine,they even gave up playing the slots, you don’t see that often. They all cheered her on and clapped. How nice to see people willing to watch a race that late at night. Must prove something of her class as a race horse and the fans she has.
Thank God for people like,Susan,Jim C.,Laurie K., John and Mary. They certainly helped to inform you on Zenyatta and her accomplishments.
Zenyatta, just as any other race horse, runs against who shows up. Some even found fault with Secretariat’s competition. I guess then, Zenyatta is in good company. She certainly has nothing to be ashamed of. Your bitterness and criticism of this mare, NOW, that is something to be ashamed of!
By the way,Kyle,the race last night was not her best distance and no pace. And...she still won again, going wide.

If nothing else demonstrates the greatness of Zenyatta, the awe that the other trainers - trainers like Bob Baffert, Ron Ellis, Jerry Hollendorfer and others - hold for Zenyatta should speak volumes. When you have trainers with horses in a race with Zenyatta openly cheer for Zenyatta to win, you have to know you are looking at a once in a lifetime horse. I, for one, am not going to argue with people who have blinders on. I’m just going to cheer, cry, jump up and down when she wins and enjoy to the fullest the gift of this mare and the extra year we’ve been given.

Anne,
I don’t know why you’re calling me out. I worship at the shrine of Zenyatta. I spent a lot of time and energy last fall trying to convince guys like Bill that she was a higher sort than RA. But I’m not a blind follower. Yesterday, unlike her victory over St. Trinians, who is way underrated, was a diminishment not an enhancement of her legacy. And if they insist on going to the “Zenyatta” next that will be another mistake that does nothing to move her higher in racing’s pantheon.

Well, do you feel better now?? You left out bah and humbug! Hope they really tick you off and keep her home for the Zenyatta. I am kinda sick of writers who know they will get read if it is about Zenyatta and insult everyone they draw to the article. If you are happy about the “spirited response” enjoy it now because I hope a lot will join me in never reading you again. There must be something seriously wrong with East Coast writers-they are delusional in thinking every race and every horse in the East Coast is superior to any others. If other owners don’t run their horses in Grade 1’s so what? Ungraded stakes at Monmouth are better than chopped liver? Some people just can’t stand joy can they? Especially if it isn’t East Coast joy. Especially if they didn’t tell us it is okay to have it. Especially since they do not get what draws people to a dying sport-a horse like Zenyatta.

Wow! Bill, you have really ticked off the California crowd! They seem to think that Zenyatta could easily transport her California form to a track or tracks in other states and continue her winning streak, and seem to have no doubts about such a proposition, although other great horses shipping east have had some difficulties in the past. It seems that Zenyatta’s connections share the doubts of many horsemen and handicappers who are reasonably certain that Zenyatta WILL NOT RUN IN THE CLASSIC AT CHURCHILL DOWNS ON BREEDERS’ CUP SATURDAY! If she is shipped east to run at Churchill, you and I, will owe the Golden Staters apologies. If she is kept home, your critics will owe you the apologies!

I don’t understand why more people aren’t complaining about the cripples and stiffs Zenyatta routinely runs against. The TVG crew did such a poor job of pointing it out that it was laughable. Then they denigrate Peppers Pride as if Zenyatta hasn’t faced similar competition in about 80% of her races.

I don’t get it.

When I was growing up, if you were beating a team badly the coach put in the second string. If you were still beating them badly, the coach would sit on the ball. Moss and crew relish beating up on nags,

Kyle, I was not calling you out, I was just saying that this was not her best distance. She has never been one to win consistantly by 10, and from what Smith said, she has a habit of playing around once she gets to the lead. I worry about this going wide all the time but I was told she will have a huge mark on her back if she tries to go to the inside, as far as, other jockeys pinning her in and ruining any chances of her winning. I never meant anything disrepectful to you.

If she’s the best why doesn’t she face the best instead of the these races against tomato cans. She should have run in the Pacific Classic instead.
It’s about time they take her out of her plastic bubble and run her on dirt against some real horses. She won’t win the classic this year on the dirt against the likes of Blame and Quality Road. You’re synthetic bubble will burst soon.

She should have been in the WHITNEY with her PEER group, not breaking the hearts of the other, much less talented fillies in the race.

Zenyatta is a GREAT racehorse,however she has not been campaigned like a great racehorse. She may have broken Cigar’s, Citation’s record, but she has never campaigned like them or consistently met the challeges they did.

PS Others don’t ship across the country to California because of Santa Anita’s and Delmar’s INCONSISTENT track surfaces...heck, it wasn’t even a certainty Zenyatta would run until the track was worked on to JS satisfaction..

Well, well it didn’t take long for your troops (other so called sports writers)to come to your rescue.
Mr. Kling,there have been some other important facts written on this post dealing with Bill Christine, who by the way,seems to be so unhappy with his life that he just can’t let people enjoy this mare. He knew the can of worms he was going to create and so decided to go fishing. I guess it is his way of generating readers. I will never go out of my way to read a thing he writes again as I am on to his nonsense.
No matter whom she beat, where she raced,what she raced on, she still is the only one to win 18 in a row for the last few years. She also has set records such as two seperate BC category wins and first filly or mare to win the BC Classic against a solid group of horses some being the same ones RA ran against in three separate races. Zenyatta makes racing fun and people enjoy her pre-race talents. She is a star on U Tube and is still giving all of us racing fans something to cheer about. During these times of high unemployment and a country in a politcial mess federal and state wide, her presence gives us race fans a distraction of sorts.
Just sit back and enjoy the ride. Soon it will be over and it will be back to horses retiring early,more drug infractions,no records being set for consecutive wins, more horses breaking down, no enjoyment of watching a huge mare dancing or prancing before a race, who always gave her adoring fans what they came to see. Win or lose she did that much for us when her career is over.
Zenyatta has a huge heart and a will to win no matter what the circumstances tend to be, whether you like her or not! Luckily for us, she isn’t quick to criticize our faults as some of you are when it comes to the way she has been campaigned or whatever else you all dream up to slam her for.

Please, please --- We all must remember Zenyatta resides in Hollywood. Hollywood where marketing is supreme, and something is made out of nothing. Zenyatta is NOT to blame for all the negativity, it is the Mosses. You want a Champion designation then campaign as one. Zenyatta is worshipped much like Obama. Because Zenyatta is the pride of Cal, doesn’t everybody has to go along with the facade! Great artice Mr. Christine. At least you got the “FACTS” correct!!

Nick,
Putting Bill aside, I hope you’re not trying to debunk the notion of an east coast media bias - not in the wake of its latest hype-horse being exposed, ie...Quality Road. There was a horse campaigned completely provincially, unable to race but once every three months,and having prevailed over only moderate competition being hailed as high above his actual accomplishments. Do you not acknowledge that bias, unconscious as it was, was at work in that case?

Kyle: The pre-Whitney articles I read seemed to give Blame almost as much chance to win the race as Quality Road was given! The two favorites were regarded as almost equal, and the race proved that evaluation to be right on! Your opinion about an “East Coast bias” seems completely irrelevant here! As a Mid-westerner, I agree that there is an “East Coast bias”, but seldom is it as pronounced as the “West Coast bias” revealed in the comments about Bill’s article! There is no reason for anyone to consider Zenyatta as anything less than one of the all-time greats, but “West Coast bias” prevents some commentators from recognizing that she has been beating up on her own version of Joe Louis’s “Bum of the Month Club”.

Chasham,
You have your perception and I don’t think I’d get anywhere trying to challenge it. But even now I don’t hear anyone comparing Blame to Ghostzapper or hailing the former as a horse in a league by himself, all of which I did hear of Quality Road.
And as for Zenyatta, your assessment of her competition, pre-Hirsch, is ridiculous. In her previous start she beat the second best mare in the country in St. Trinians. And she’s beat a lot of other good horses through her career.

I picked Quality Road to win, Blame second. I assumed the pace would be so slow he couldn’t lose. However, I’m glad the result came out the way it did.

Why? Because I had had it up to here with people already anointing Quality Road as the next coming of (you fill in the blank). He’s a nice horse whose Donn Handicap was spectacular and Met Mile good, but nothing special.

There is no doubt the anointers were doing so because they are biased against synthetic racing. While I prefer dirt racing, and believe main track championships should be won on dirt, anyone going into Saturday believing Quality Road was ‘the best horse in America’ needs to brush up on their race-watching skills.

In case this sounds like red-boarding, here is a quote from my Saturday pre-race column.

“Unless one of his rivals is sent on a Kamikaze mission, Quality Road should be in control from the gate. However, he is not a mortal lock. Given the caliber of the other horses in the race, fair win odds would be no lower than even money.”

And just so people know, I’m from Indiana and yes, I do love and admire a horse from California. No coast bias here. Like I said, she is a once in a lifetime & I intend to enjoy the experience as much as possible.

**note 16-0 record on synthetic surfaces that favor turf horses that often resulted in small fields against inferior competition looking to pick up a check and no longer used anymore because of health issues resulting from breathing in plastic fibers.

Nick Kling, are you retarded? You picked me to win, but you hedged your analysis, the only locks are death and taxes.

I won the Donn and the Met two prestigious races that would be on any HOY schedule. I lose the Whitney by a nostril at high weight, at historicaly a tough place for champions(see Secretariat) and I’m not the best horse in america? Let’s see what happens at equal weights at Big Sandy and Curchill.

You clearly have a few screws loose, as was a prerequisite for anyone who voted for Rachel Alexandra in the 2009 Horse of the Year balloting.

Talk about cheesy opposition, just one of the pigs that Rachel Alexandra topped in her final race of 2009 has won at all in the nearly-a-year since the 2009 Woodward Stakes.

You mentally-challenged fools voted as if Rachel Alexandra had taken the 1977 Woodward Stakes, the 1978 Preakness, and the 2001 Haskell. You paid zero attention to the fact that racing’s leaders had rendered the 2009 North American racing product almost weightless when compared to the 1970’s or even the 1980’s.

Rachel Alexandra spent all but one of her 2009 races in restricted company and upon venturing out of restricted company on one occasion she managed to beat a field of subsequent dogs by a desperate head as the heavy favorite.

Rachel Alexandra did indeed top males of her generation a couple of times in 2009. The champion male of that crop topped 54 stakes foes during the year and those 54 combined to win exactly three subsequent races among them during the rest of 2009. That’s 54 horses of supposed quality enough to test the champion combining for exactly 3 wins among them during the rest of the year. Talk about “cheesy opposition”.

Rachel Alexandra is and will always be the poster child for “cheesy opposition”.

The greatest difference between Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra is that the former has never lost to that “cheesy opposition”. Lets not forget that a mere third-string waterboy from out west went east and throttled Rachel Alexandra earlier this year strongly suggesting what would have happened had Rachel Alexandra not backed down on three separate occasions from a confrontation with Zenyatta.

Zenyatta, by contrast, still has no equal and it remains quite possible that nobody will ever find out what it would take to top her.

So now, not only do the so-called turf writers insult and mock one of the best horses that ever looked through a bridle, her owners, her Hall of Fame jockey, but now they’ve insulted and mocked all her fans. Very, very classy, boys. Way to go to promote the Sport of Kings. It’s sixth-grade behavior.

My apologies to Bill Christine, whom I referred to as an “East Cost turf writer” in post #5. I confused him with Vic Zast and/or John Pricci. They all look alike, and share the same monolithic anti-Zenyatta world view.

Everyone: Ed Fountaine (see posts #40 and 43) is the horse racing writer at the New York Post, perhaps Zenyatta’s biggest detractor on the East Coast. You know the talking points: “poly queen, plastic, New York is great, plastic, Rachel is the best, Quality Road is the Second Coming, plastic, blah, blah, blah.”

I got into an email exchange with Fountaine yesterday. In his email, Fountaine took a personal shot at John Shirreffs: he implied that Shirreffs did not make any serious effort to have his other mare, Life is Sweet, challenge Zenyatta the three times they raced against each other last year.

Nick,
I don’t disagree with Moran’s most basic point, that if Blame wins the Classic he is HOTY. That, though, can be said for Quailty Road, Zenyatta of course (ridiculous he writes she would be better served going to the Distaff) and even Lookin’ at Lucky...and perhaps even Rachel (a lot can still happen). However, there is something else in Moran’s piece, besides his cheap shot at Zenyatta fans, and that’s a between the lines pathetic longing for the “Great White Hope.” Is that what you’re getting at? His “anybody but Zenyatta” wish?

Well, there you go again: “plastic, plastic, plastic, blah blah blah.” You forgot to mention “poly queen,” Ed. For the record, I am no fan of synthetic surfaces. Neither is John Shirreffs. Neither is Jerry Moss.

Funny how a big shot writer from the NY Post is trolling around internet forums bashing Zenyatta. Real class act. And Ed, I notice you do not deny the classless remark you made implying that John Shirreffs did not make any serious effort with Life is Sweet last year to defeat Zenyatta. You have zero factual basis to raise that implication, other than your own personal animosity, displayed week after week in your columns, against Zenyatta and her connections.

Everyone, to show you how little Ed knows about thoroughbred horse racing, he attributed Quality Road’s defeat in the Whitney to the fact that the pace was too SLOW. Pretty clear that Ed lacks a rudimentary understanding of the dynamics of pace. Here’s a hint, Ed: frontrunners like Quality Road enjoy a slow pace. Remember that the next time you drum up the NYRA hype machine for one of Pletcher’s horses.

Ed, instead of trolling around internet forums bashing Zenyatta, you ought to get to work on your next column proclaiming Blame the next Anointed One. Looks like Paul Moran beat you to it. (For the record, Blame looked great in the Whitney, closing into slow fractions, handridden all the way. Unlike Ed, I can appreciate an excellent horse from the opposite Coast).

How does it feel to have the greatest American female racehorse NEVER to set foot in New York?

Kinda sucks for New York, doesn’t it?

Bill Christine and Ed Fountaine - how does it feel to continue writing negative stories on Zenyatta only there’s nothing you both could do to stop her as she heads towards horseracing immortality?

Kinda sucks for both of you, doesn’t it?

And finally, for all the Zenyatta detractors here, as well as for Bill and Ed- how does it feel to having the need to trash Zenyatta when the majority of people see just the opposite. Didn’t Zenyatta just win “The Greatest American Female Racehorse in the Last Fifty Years” in both Bloodhorse and DRF polls over Ruffian?

We could start with Steve Byk as the president. Then add Amanda Duckworth as Secretary. Add Vic Zast, John Pricci and Bill Christine as honorary old time members. Throw in Gary West as the Texas rep., and Paul Moran as the token ESPN rep.

I read all of your columns and agree or disagree, respect your opinions.

Personal Ensign…

What can I say, you’re my Idol and I hope I run in the Beldame the race you won twice, cause if you can make it there you can make it anywhere...New York.... I bet 100,000 New Yorkers would show up and root me on at Big Sandy.

Lisa’s Booby Trap…

Your story is bigger than mine and is what this game is all about. You go girl, 14 more to catch me.

Keep writing Bill ... I hear the chopped liver in New York is the best!

Great club John. Maybe the free wine impairs ability to recognize the greatest predator in the history of American racing. Hats off to her. Quality Road at a 1 turn mile would also be very special. Factoring in steroids, as Curlin proved when he headed west without them, nothing has been close to these 2 very special horses in the last 20 years.

Good grief! How can sports writers be so childish? If you are so intelligent and are using your knowledge to the best of your ability, why are you making fun of people who do not agree with you? Last I checked, we still live in a free country and therefore can speak our mind at any time and about any subject we desire. It seems the posters know more about horse racing than this sad group of writers that feel the need to bash racing fans. Hey boys, without us, there is NO racing. We support it with our wagers. If you think it is a dying sport now, wait and see when we don’t show up. People like yourselves, are not a positive influence for racing. Maybe you should find a better place to do your dirty work. We do NOT need you. When we vote out the politicians this year we should vote out this group of turf writers as for the past few years, they keep bashing the same horse who keeps winning races on both coasts. What do you want her to do, sharpen your pencils sharper so you can write more demeaning posts against this mare and her team?
Oh and by the way, you do know the Mosses do a lot for retired race horses and give to Old Friends plus other charity events with race horses in mind. Hard to see how you can knock people of this quality. Then again,Bill’s Posse has a problem with class.

No arguing that Zenyatta is a great horse, but, there have been many great horses. Actually the best mare running at this time is Godikova. She beat males, the very best; I think 6 times, and, on their preferred surface. She ships around to different tracks, and is the epitome of a champion --- no marketing required. Also, remember there have been very few good horses racing in Cal. in recent years. So when a good one does finally show up they go Gaga. Yes she is pretty. She is an entertainer. She is charismatic, BUT, opposition on equal footing is what establishes a champion (Ref: Goldikova). 10 years from now Zenyatta’s legacy will be told. P.S. --- You haven’t heard the last of Rachael either. Zenyatta WILL NOT meet the boys come Breeder’s Cup time. Her undefeated record is too important to the Mosses, which is the reason she will NOT attain true mega stature as Secretariat, Citation, and John Henry did. Zenyatta’s owners are the only reason that she lost HOY, and, she will loose again this year because of them. We will all see how it plays out.

James,
She wrote that she had voted for Curlin in 2008 in part because he broke the North American earnings mark. She also wrote that the fact that Zenyatta was 14-0 was irrelevant because it was Horse of the Year not Horse of two years, or something to that effect. When I pointed out her inconsistency she couldn’t acknowledge or handle it.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Amazing! In a bravura performance that will burn brightly forever in the annals of thoroughbred racing, the undefeated racemare Zenyatta soared past an international field of 11 top colts and geldings to score a brilliant victory under Mike Smith in yesterday’s $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita.

Before a wildly cheering crowd of 58,845, the 5-year-old Amazon was last in the early going, rallied up the rail on the far turn, swung out to split horses, then gobbled up ground with her humongous stride to run by Gio Ponti in deep stretch, winning by a length.

“She wound up winning with her ears pricked again,” said a jubilant Smith. “She was well within herself. I still haven’t hit all her gears.

“If there was another horse in front of her, she would have caught him too.”

Favored at 5-2 facing male horses for the first time in her first start at a mile-and-a-quarter, Zenyatta ran her record to 14 wins without a loss, surpassing the mark set by Personal Ensign in the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Up until yesterday, that was regarded as the most stirring race in the Cup’s 26-year history. Not anymore.

“There are tears coming to my eyes,” said John Shirreffs, 64, the former combat Marine in Vietnam who trains Zenyatta for Jerry Moss, co-founder of A&M;records, and his wife, Ann. “She is all heart. It was an unbelievable emotional experience.”

Things hardly went smoothly at first for the towering (17.1 hands) mare, who balked at entering the gate. Then she had to be backed out with the rest of the field when Quality Road was scratched after refusing to load. The start was delayed for 12 minutes.

“I was a little concerned after the mishap at the gate,” Smith said. “She started to get a little agitated. I thought, ‘Oh God, not today.’”

Zenyatta missed the break, walked out of the gate trailing the field, then began to pick it up down the backside on her own courage. But around the far turn, Smith spotted a traffic jam of horses in front of him.

“They were stacked up at the half-mile pole, and I thought, no way I was going to get around them. Then it was like the parting of the sea. I was able to cut the corner with her off the turn, and that made the difference.”

Now the debate will begin to heat up in earnest: Who should be Horse of the Year, Rachel Alexandra, the 3-year-old super filly who beat the boys in the Preakness, Haskell and Woodward? Or Zenyatta, the first female ever to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, beating eight Grade 1 winners while remaining unbeaten in the process.

“I think it would be a crying shame if she’s not Horse of the Year,” Smith said. “She’s the horse of the decade.”

With a final time of 2:00.62 over Santa Anita’s synthetic Pro-Ride surface, Zenyatta paid $7.60 to win. Gio Ponti, likely to be voted the Eclipse Award as America’s top turf horse, completed an $87.40 exacta. Euro-invader Twice Over ran third to anchor a $1,192.40 trifecta, but the other European horse in the Classic, 3-1 second choice Rip Van Winkle, backed up on the far turn after pressing the pace to finish 10th. Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird was ninth.

And just like last year, when two-time Horse of the Year Curlin was fourth in the Classic making his first start on synthetics, Summer Bird – who’ll be the 3-year-old champion off victories in the Belmont Stakes, Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup – failed to repeat his dirt form on the Pro-Ride and also finished fourth.

Red herring alert. I am not saying you are incapable of filing a straight news report. It’s the other conduct of yours that’s questionable, i.e., prowling on comment boards labeling Zenyatta fans as monobrows who write with crayons, and then suggesting that John Shirreffs (who runs an honest barn) did not run Life is Sweet hard at Zenyatta.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions. I am not a big fan of synthetic surfaces, either. (Saturday morning at Del Mar, John Shirreffs brought a bunch of polytrack over to the race office and asked, “on what planet did this come from?").

Now retract your ugly comment about John Shirreffs, and get to work on your next obligatory column proclaiming Blame as the next Anointed One.

You don’t have a “Girl Power” sign? Well, you are deprived. Write to Del Mar—they may have some extra ones. And they may even have some extra “Zenyatta: Wanted for Speeding--By the Police” signs. Those are awesome.

Jim C.,
While I agree with you that if Fountaine wrote what you allege, it was a stupid thing to write. But my objection is to it’s relevancy rather than it’s truth or non-truth. The fact is Shireffs trained both to peak on BC Day. So I can’t disagree that Life is Sweet wasn’t completely cranked when she met her stablemate earlier in the year, but of course, neither was Zenyatta. So my question to Fountaine would be - What’s the point?

Fountaine can speak for himself, but the knock was made in the context of his attempt to diminish Zenyatta’s racing resume. I pointed out to him each of the ten Grade 1 fillies and mares Zenyatta has defeated, including Breeders’ Cup Distaff Champions Life is Sweet and Ginger Punch. He implied that the three victories over Life is Sweet was not a big deal because John Shirreffs did not run her hard at Zenyatta.

Obviously, Fountaine likes to parrot East Coast talking points rather then review the actual races. In the 2009 Milady at Hollywood Park, Garret Gomez, riding aboard Life is Sweet, blocked Zenyatta from taking the rail in the back stretch, and Life is Sweet made a terrific run in the final stretch. (Maybe Fountaine can ask Garret Gomez if he was under instruction from John Shirreffs to let up. Heh. Such a ridiculous allegation.)

Life is Sweet was a terrific filly who throttled the field in the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Distaff. I still await Fountaine’s retraction.

Um, Mike (#75), Iet me preface my remarks by saying that I like and respect Rachel Alexandra. And I am not alleging anything untoward regarding her fine career. But since YOU are alleging some awfully nasty stuff, let’s not forget that Steve Asmussen has a drug rap sheet, including suspensions, one mile long. Todd Pletcher has been suspended, too. And Rick Dutrow ... we needn’t get into that.

Just because the internet allows some stalkers skulking behind their computers clandestinely to smear peole they don’t know who don’t know them, it doesn’t mean it’s now okay to shout fire in a crowded theater.

John Shirreffs, whom I admire, has obviously trained both Zenyatta and Life Is Sweet to the best of his ability, and theirs, any time they ran.

The person who is slandering me in this regard obviously has issues. Anyone who pays attention to him has issues also.

And can someone on the Left Coast send us some of those “Girl Power” signs to hold up when Rachel Alexandra runs in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga? On a real dirt track, not plastic, in New York, where Grade 1 races still attract Grade 1 horses?

#40 “It’s a good thing these Zenyatta fanatics have the internet. Otherwise, they would have to write to you nasty letter in cranyon, because it’s obvious that where they live, no sharp objects are allowed.”

Then you engaged with people on a personal level.

Dude, you need to know when enough is enough.

And if Bill haven’t decided to write such inflammatory and demeaning rhetoric regarding Zenyatta then we wouldn’t be having this discussion…

I emailed you and pointed out that Zenyatta last year faced and beat Life is Sweet, the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Distaff Champion, three times. Life is Sweet is a “real stakes filly”, Ed. I also went over the list of the ten Grade 1 fillies that Zenyatta has beaten in her career. (I also pointed out that Rachel ducked Zenyatta at the Apple Blossom, on DIRT, and Zenyatta’s stablemate, Zardana, took care of Rachel, on DIRT; things you conveniently forget because you are so ill-informed about horse racing).

In your response email, you thanked me for writing, and stated, inter alia, the following: “As I recall, Life Is Sweet is also trained by John Shirreffs. Enough said.”

If you carefully review my posts above in which I raise this issue (# 46, 50, 64, 69, and 74), I stated that you “implied” or “suggested” that Life is Sweet was never run hard against Zenyatta. That is a fair interpretation of your remark. I know of no other way to construe it. The remark speaks volumes about your character and about your mentality.

So, Ed, it comes down to this, do you or do you not admit that you stated, “As I recall, Life Is Sweet is also trained by John Shirreffs. Enough said.” And if you do admit to stating it, then please explain what you meant by it,.

One final point: until name-caller Ed Fountaine answers the questions I raise at the bottom of Post #79, I am through with this issue. Debating horse racing should be fun, reasonable minds can differ, and these forums are usually a lot of fun

But Fountaine crossed a professional line, both in demeaning Zenyatta fans (with the “crayons” remark), and in his impliedly defamatory remark aimed at John Shirreffs, who is a sweet guy and has brought so much happiness to so many people.

Everyone: you have the facts. I simply refuse to stoop to Fountaine’s level to engage him any more on this issue.

This is getting ridiculous! In comment #78, John accuses Bill Christine of having written “inflammatory and demeaning rhetoric regarding Zenyatta”! Bill DID refer to the 28 losses suffered by Zenyatta’s 5 opponents in the Hirsch; he DID call those opponents “chopped liver”; but he also said that a second win against males in the Classic would rocket Big Z into a league with Man O’War and Secretariat!
How is that “inflammatory”, except to people who think of Zenyatta the way Elizabeth Taylor thought of a horse in National Velvet? The essence of horseracing is the comparison of horses against each other. What did the people who wagered on the Hirsch think of Zenyatta’s opposition? I’m not going to take the time to check the chart, but Zenyattta probably went off at 1-5 or 2-5, so the bettors regarded the rest of the field as “chopped liver”, or as Mr. Christine said, “not a salty lot”! Bill recognized Zenyatta’s greatness as perhaps in the same league as Man O’ War and Secretariat, which seems to me anything but “inflammatory”, except perhaps to crayon-users, or “demeaning”!
Jim C. refers to Zenyatta’s “fans”, instantly rendering useless the search for objectivity in his comments. An objective appraisal of the field in the Hirsch would have emphasized the appropriate nature of Mr. Christine’s remarks, and this controversy will be resolved when Zenyatta steps into the starting gate in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in November to prove that she belongs in, as Mr. Christine said, a league with two of the greatest race horses of all time!
Of course, if she isn’t there.....

When I referred to Zenyatta’s “fans” I was referring to the comment from the New York Post writer, Ed “Plastic-Plastic-Plastic-New-York-is-Great-blah-blah-blah” Fountaine, who spends his spare time trolling these forums bashing people who are fond of Zenyatta. For example, in Post #40, Fountaine states: “It’s a good thing these Zenyatta fanatics have the internet. Otherwise, they would have to write you nasty letters in crayon, because it’s obvious that where they live, no sharp objects are allowed.”

Re: the Hirsch, you lack a rudimentary understanding of Pace. Zenyatta won the race over a surface she does not like, at a distance that is not her best, closing into ridiculously fractions (first half mile in 50 and 3/5), ran 53 more feet than the runner-up (see Trakus) and was not whipped once. Not bad.

Jim C.: I don’t care much for Fountaine’s work, but his reaction to some of the comments by those who idolize Zenyatta is not completely without justification.
I didn’t mention “pace” in my comments about the Hirsch, but I’m sure the abilities of the field to set the pace were considered when the bettors made their wagers. A great racehorse sets his or her own pace and is not dependent on the pace-setting ability of anything else in the field. Note that I did not say a very good racehorse; I said a GREAT racehorse! Zenyatta is a great racehorse, but she has been spending too much time with chopped liver! We’ll see how great she has if and when the Classic gates open at Churchill Downs!

“Re: the Hirsch, you lack a rudimentary understanding of Pace. Zenyatta won the race over a surface she does not like, at a distance that is not her best, closing into ridiculously fractions (first half mile in 50 and 3/5), ran 53 more feet than the runner-up (see Trakus) and was not whipped once. Not bad. “

Pace only matters when you’re closing against a competitive field, she closed against stiffs. So what?

What is it with you Zenyatta fans who can’t admit that the Hirsch was a terrible field? I don’t hear Rachel fans saying that the Lady’s Secret was a great field.

Besides, Rachel isn’t winning HOY this year, so stop talking about her. Worry about Blame and Lookin at Lucky because both of them have beaten legitimate Grade I competition

You don’t know what you’re talking about. First, Rinterval is a polytrack sprint specialist who lost by a head to Informed Decision, the reigning Breeders’ Cup Distaff sprint Champion, at Arlington Park on July 4 last time out. Saturday, Rinterval was only stretching out from 7 furlongs to 8.5 furlongs, and was controlling the pace with ridiculously slow fractions (half-mile in 50 and 3/5 seconds). That’s a recipe for a close race—especially on polytrack. John Hardoon of the Sheets says that Rinterval is the real deal.

Second, Zenyatta defeated St Trinians in the Vanity. Rachel Alexandra, her entire career, has not faced a filly as good as St Trinians. Period.

Third, another “stiff” that Zenyatta beat this year is Zardana, who whipped Rachel in March, on DIRT, in the Fair Grounds.

Fourth, Zenyatta’s connections kept their end of the bargain and showed up for the Apple Blossom. It would have been nice to have seen Rachel Alexandra there.

Fifth, I hear you griping about Zenyatta’s current campaign. At least it included four grade 1s. Rachel hasn’t run in a Grade 1 all year.

Sixth, I like Blame a lot. He closed into soft fractions, and was handridden all the way. He really exposed Quality Road, who East Coast turf writers like Fountaine had been hyping as the Second Coming, for the miler that he is.

Seventh, Lookin at Lucky looks great, too. He’s the best 3-year old male by far. I think he may be a little worn out come November.

Mike Watchmaker has a factual account of the races this weekend on the DRF site. It is worth the read. He explains the races and how they unfolded and what makes Zenyatta so special.
It is a no win situation when regarding this mare.
Even trainers who do ship, are not fans of the whole shipping situation. Just think of the process for yourself when flying from the east to the west, west to the east packing and making sure someone is watching the house, the dogs, the cat, the yard, etc. besides adjusting to the time change that sets people back for days. You don’t think horses have issues? That is why they are tranquilized before flights. Being an older mare and one that is quite nervous, I am sure it becomes a bigger issue than we will ever know when shipping this gal. Also check out on his site, how many consecutive days she has been in training.
As one poster mentioned, what is stopping any horse on our “best coast”, as some call it, to fly west? Many horses have issues right in their stalls on their home court without the grueling flying mission. Example: Life at Ten and casting, another one I know, that was not reported, bumped her head near her eye, and needed staples. Things are not as easy as they seem to those who are not in the situation of owning these frail animals.It is up to us, their owners and handlers to keep them safe. We lose too many to injuries and horrific breakdowns therefore flying is never our first option.
How many mares are running at 6? I guess it is too much to ask for the Zenyatta haters to just enjoy the show. As it won’t happen again for a long time,if ever whether it be on dirt, turf, blacktop or synthetics. We all know anything can happen in a horse race, ask Secretariat.

Handicapping | Posted 8/9/2010, 7:43 pm
Zenyatta makes the game special
By Mike Watchmaker
NEW YORK - Racehorses are judged by who they beat, how they beat them, and how fast they run doing it. It has been that way forever. But Zenyatta, who was already testing credulity even before she extended her undefeated streak to 18 in Saturday’s Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch at Del Mar, seems of a mind to test these tenets of the sport, too.
If any other mare had won the Hirsch the way Zenyatta did Saturday, it frankly would have attracted only passing attention, and even less praise. Yes, Zenyatta managed to close into an extremely slow pace of 25.41 seconds, 50.61, and 1:15.11. And those pokey fractions are precisely the reason why no one should get worked up over Zenyatta’s pedestrian final time for the 1 1/16 miles of 1:45.03, because that final time was entirely a function of the aberrant pace. It’s also true that Zenyatta made the meat of her move in the fourth and, by far, the fastest quarter-mile of the Hirsch (23.95), and she did so with a wide sweep on a track people whose opinions I respect say favored rail runners.
Still, Zenyatta struck the front just past midstretch as though she was going on to score by open lengths, only to have pacesetter Rinterval come back on her and make the champion mare work very hard to keep her perfect record intact. Rinterval did come into the Hirsch off the best performance of her career, a near-miss in the Chicago Handicap to Informed Decision, last year’s champion female sprinter. But Rinterval was 33-1 in the Chicago ‘Cap because she had never turned in a performance remotely like that before. Her previous claim to fame was a win last March in the Wintergreen Stakes, a $50,000 race at Turfway Park. The Wintergreen was Rinterval’s only career victory around the same two turns she went Saturday, and in it, she managed to equal career-best two turn Beyer Figure of - wait for it - 81. So if a mare named, say, Mondatta won the Hirsch Saturday the way Zenyatta did, we would likely say, “Nice job overcoming a slow pace and the grain of the track to win. Congrats,” and we would look forward to betting against her when she ran against legitimate Grade 1 stakes horses.
But it was Zenyatta who ran on Saturday, and if the time hadn’t come already, it certainly has come now to recognize that Zenyatta has earned the right to be measured by a different standard. It’s not about who Zenyatta beats, anymore. All that matters now is this: Eighteen for 18, and counting. Eight straight Grade 1 victories, and counting. And 12 Grade 1 wins overall. And here is the one that blows me away. In a day and age when a sneeze can knock a horse off form, Zenyatta has managed to maintain winning form for more than 32 straight months. Amazing.
While Zenyatta easily maintains her position atop the older female division, there is a new leader in the older male division. Blame, who went into Saturday’s Grade 1 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga as no worse than the second-best handicap horse in the country behind Quality Road, caught that opponent on the track and in the rankings in a performance that was better than his win margin of a head would suggest.
When Haynesfield did not make a move for the early lead in the Whitney (perhaps he was thrown off his game when he broke through the gate before the start), it left Quality Road in complete control of the pace. And after Quality Road got away with opening splits of 24.41 and 48.06 seconds on a track that was playing fast, this Whitney should have been absolutely over. But as he did when he ran down the highly talented and loose-on-the-lead (and, like Quality Road, Todd Pletcher-trained) Battle Plan to win the Stephen Foster in his last start, Blame produced an impressive late turn of foot to get the money. Exactly how impressive that late acceleration in the Foster really was was difficult to judge considering Battle Plan sustained a career-ending injury during the running. But the Whitney proved that Blame’s late kick is powerful, indeed. Almost Zenyatta-like, if you will.
Unfortunately, you can’t talk about this Whitney without mentioning John Velazquez’s ride on Quality Road. First, let me say that while I had plenty of respect for Blame going into the Whitney, I admit I was shocked Quality Road didn’t win by open lengths after the easy trip he got. I also think that while Blame is obviously a top-class performer, Quality Road, for whatever reason, didn’t run his best race Saturday, and is capable of better. In any event, while some could criticize Velazquez for not letting a free-running horse like Quality Road to ramble on the lead, which would have put Blame into a double-digit deficit down the backstretch, I was bothered by Velazquez looking around for the competition over his shoulder and under his arms about a half-dozen times around the far turn and in upper stretch. This suggested Velazquez was more concerned about winning as easily as he could on the 1-2 favorite, and where Blame was, than riding his own horse. Don’t worry, Johnny. Blame was coming, all right. All the looking around was unnecessary. It bordered on arrogance. And it was a turnoff, even for Quality Road fans.
Then again, Velazquez came back and won four races on Sunday, which is more than I won.

The Grade Is are meaningless California Polycrap races against stiffs and cripples. Who cares? They should all be downgraded to Grade III because nobody good has run in them since they changed the surface to plastic.

First off, I am not a fan of synthetics. But as to your other comments, you do not know what you are talking about.

One of those SoCal “stiffs and cripples” beat Rachel Alexandra, over the DIRT, in Rachels’s own backyard, this year. Did I mention the race was on DIRT?

And then, a month later, Rachel’s connections ducked Zenyatta at Apple Blossom, over the DIRT, after initially committing, and even extracting a date concession.

In addition, another one of those SoCal “stiffs and cripples” is Blind Luck, who won the Kentucky Oaks. Blind Luck, who has raced and won over the “polycrap,” is the best filly that has run on the East Coast all year (with all due respect to Devil May Care). And I am looking forward to seeing Rail Trip handle all the East Coast hype horses.

And let’s review the SoCal “stiffs and cripples” who have transitioned to DIRT, and performed well shipping to the East Coast this year:

Zardana (beat Rachel at the Fair Grounds)
Zenyatta (showed up and won at the Apple Blossom)
Blind Luck (Kentucky Oaks and Delaware Oaks)
Evening Jewel (2nd by a nose in Kentucky Oaks)
Lookin at Lucky (Rebel and Preakness)
American Lion (Illinois Derby)
Line of David (Arkansas Derby)
Game on Dude (Lone Star Derby)
Concord Point (Iowa Derby, West Va. Derby)

inflammatory - “When Zenyatta wins, no matter what the weights, no matter how cheesy the opposition, no matter how scant the margin...”

Good God, man.

In Zenyatta’s previous race she raced against St. Trinians, whom by the way was listed as the third best female racehorse in America by DRF’s Mike Watchmaker. St. Trinians had won four straight races at Santa Anita including the Grade 1 or 2 (depending on who you talk to) Santa Maria. She was the morning line favorite for the Santa Anita Handicap. She gave everything she had against Zenyatta and now has paid the price by being sidelined the rest of the year. Thank God she didn’t die. That little horse has more heart that alot of horses I’ve seen race this year.

demeaning - “Mike Smith, who rides Zenyatta, was smitten long ago, and this time he said: ‘If she can pull two (wins), to me she might go down as the greatest horse of all time.’

The Mr. Christine added..."Well, they all have to say something, don’t they?”

And also forgot the fact that Mike Smith is a Hall of Fame jockey, paid his dues, has ridden a previous HOY Holy Bull in every one of his races except the first race, has also ridden only one the three female racehorses, Azeri, that was HOY in eighteen of her races resulting in fifteen wins, and, further, has ridden Skip Away, another HOY and has said Zenyatta is the greatest horse he has ever ridden or seen.

chasham, I think you got it backwards. It’s writers like Mr. Christine that needs crayons.

I really wish they would stop comparing Synthetic Horses and Dirt Horses, Why compare them like they are the same? We don’t compare turf horses to dirt horses. When is the last time a “turf” Horse even got major consideration for HOY? Now you have a horse who has won 16 races on synthetics and 2 races on dirt (both races at the same track, against nothing) being compared to the very best “dirt” horses to ever run. Does this make any sense? Zenyatta camp could have ran in the Foster, but they chose not to. They could have ran in the Hollywood Gold Cup on a surface they love, but clearly chose to “duck” Rail Trip. The horse resume while undefeated is not full of who’s, who’s. I refuse to give a synthetic horse any credit for beating a dirt horse on the synthetics. She is a synthetic monster, I’ll give her and anyone that, but she has not proved anything else. Terrible bet at low odds in the Breeders Cup

You brought up Rachel Alexandra n post #91. You posed questions regarding Zenyatta’s schedule circa. Apple Blossom time, while glossing over the fact that it was Rachel’s connections who bowed out in the first place. This is something East Coast scribes like Ed Fountaine, who has a set of special knee pads personally autographed by Jess Jackson, have no explanation for when they yammer on about how better Rachel is than Zenyatta.

Look, I think I am with you on synthetics. I am not an an anti-synthetic jihadist, like Ed Fountaine is, or you appear to be. It appears to be the case that it is safer for the horses, at least in terms of reduced deaths on the track, if not soft tissue injuries.

But Saturday at Del Mar was bizarre. I woke up to news that John Shirreffs was considering scratching Zenyatta from the Clement Hirsch. He picked up some clumps of poly stuff, placed them in his cap, walked over the the Del Mar office, and asked from what planet did this come from? (Best response: what planet did Zenyatta come from?). Now Santa Anita is having all kinds of issues with the Pro Ride. The only decent synthetic surface appears to be the Cushion Track at Hollywood Park; it’s more like dirt, and plays faster some days than the times than certain dirt tracks like Churchill.

One thing I believe is generally true: from a training standpoint, synthetics are more taxing on the horses, which makes them more “fit,” which explains in part why SoCal shippers typically do well transitioning to dirt.

The CHRB probably had noble intentions in mandating synthetic surfaces, but they have been more trouble than they are worth. It’s too bad Zenyatta has run only two times so far on her preferred surface, dirt.

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